Promises
by Wedjat
Summary: Jason leaves town and questions hang in the air for Elizabeth Webber due to the final promises they made to one another. As time passes, Elizabeth fears that the man she loves may not be coming back.


**A/N: **WARNING! Liason! Don't like, don't read. Also, just FYI, there's going to be some time jumping in between chapters. I don't plan on making this an extremely long story…but we'll see. It all depends on what I come up with really.

So Steve Burton is leaving GH. Sad day! I can't imagine it without him. Basically, I'm writing a short story that outlines how I would like him to leave (and hopefully return to) the show. I'm leaving some wiggle room, aka not much of an explanation of what happened, because I have no idea how it's going to play out, but I'm sure something huge is going to happen (and I can't imagine them killing JASON MORGAN off the show, that would be suicide for GH) to cause him to leave town.

In the time between what's happening in the show right now and this story, Elizabeth and Jason have grown even closer, but not quite on a romantic level. I don't even want to touch the whole Sam's baby not being dead issue, so I'm not really addressing that, but I'd like to think Sam and Jason are amicable towards one another, however, they ultimately decide not to be together because of all of the strain from before.

* * *

Elizabeth watched her son finish his chocolate chip cookie with a contented smile on her face. Cameron glanced up at her, the sweets smeared all over his face, and gave her a toothy grin.

Elizabeth laughed. "I probably shouldn't have let you have sugar before bed," she thought aloud, her happiness practically bursting at the seams.

Cameron giggled. "I won't tell," he teased.

"Promise?" She asked playfully as she wiped the chocolate off of his face with a napkin.

Cameron nodded enthusiastically, "Promise!"

Elizabeth ruffled his hair and gave him a big hug. "Thanks baby, now go get ready for bed."

Cameron jogged up the stairs. "Brush your teeth! Check on your brother!" she called.

"Okay, okay, mom!" he whined. It was the same thing every night, but he was more amiable that time. She had given him cookies.

Elizabeth shook her head and ran a hand through her auburn hair. She took Cameron's plate to the sink and set it down, but before she could begin to clean it, there was a knock at the door.

With a sigh, she walked over and pulled it open. Jason Morgan stood on the other side.

She beamed at him. "Jason," she said his name breathlessly.

Jason's expression was unreadable, which shouldn't be a surprise, though he usually wasn't on guard around her. He didn't look happy or sad, and this neutrality put her on edge a bit.

"I'm sorry, you look tired, I should have called," he apologized.

She rolled her eyes and stepped aside so he could enter. "Don't be silly, a mom's work is never done anyway," she joked.

Jason gave her a small smile before stepping into the house. He looks around. "Were you baking?"

Elizabeth hugged her arms as she followed him after closing the door. "You smell it, huh? I made the boys and I a batch of cookies. Would you like one?"

Jason turned to face her. "No thank you, I won't be staying long."

Elizabeth's unease heightened. "Is something wrong?"

Jason thought about that for a moment. Surprisingly, after a brief pause, he gave a brief laugh. "Honestly, I'm not sure."

Elizabeth frowned. "I'm confused."

Jason's smile widened. "So am I," he admitted.

Elizabeth scratched the back of her neck nervously. "Okay, then let's skip to what you _do _know," she offered. "Why are you here?"

Jason's smile faded. "I've been doing a lot of thinking. Recent events have really put things into perspective for me."

Elizabeth nodded for him to continue.

He walked over to the mantle and looked at the different pictures. One in particular struck a chord with him, a portrait of Elizabeth and Jake. He reached out to it and picked it up, gently removing it so he could look at it more closely.

"I looked back at my life, and there were so many times that I could have allowed myself to be…" he stroked the image of Jake with his thumb, "…happy. Wholly and completely happy." His expression hardened. "But I didn't."

Elizabeth wasn't sure what to say. Her eyes traveled from his tense features to the photograph in his hand.

"I could have been there for you and a father to Jake. I could have moved past my hatred for Franco and mended things with Sam. Those are just the most recent, every time something good comes along, I ruin it." He looked up at Elizabeth, who was watching him intently. "Because that's the kind of person I am."

Elizabeth shook her head vehemently, searching desperately for the right words. "You're a good man, Jason. You can't blame yourself for all of that, every situation is more than one-sided! I was to blame for you not being a part of Jake's life, and Sam…" she moved closer and touched his arm. "Sam made mistakes too."

Jason sighed. "You weren't to blame Elizabeth…it was the _business_. It was my lifestyle, my _choices _that ruined what was good." He set the picture back up on the mantle, and Elizabeth's hand slid back down to her side. "And I'm to blame for that."

Elizabeth crossed her arms, waiting for him to make everything clear.

"I'm done," he said finally. "I'm getting out."

Shock coursed through Elizabeth's veins, causing a shiver to run up her spine. "Can you run that by me again?"

Jason almost smiled. "All of this time I thought I needed to find someone that could fit into my lifestyle, but the truth is, no one does," he explained. "Not even Sam." He rubbed his face tiredly. "And I'm not getting any younger…" he trailed off with a somber laugh in his voice.

Elizabeth pressed in on her temples with both of her hands. "So you're really doing it, you're leaving the business? Now what?"

Jason looked away. "That's why I'm here."

Elizabeth's heart skipped a beat and she wrung out her hands. "Stop beating around the bush, Jason."

He looked her in the eye. "It's not that easy to get out. It'll take more than just putting away my gun and telling Sonny that I'm done. In that world, there are still a lot of people that want me to pay for the things I've done."

She swallowed hard. She could feel what was coming next.

His eyes glistened slightly as he looked at her. "I have to leave Port Charles."

She tore her gaze from his and bit down on her lip. She didn't want to cry, she shouldn't be surprised, but it still hit her like a brick wall.

"I have to lay low for a while and wait for the other families to forget," Jason continued.

Elizabeth turned back to him and nodded, tears in her eyes. "How long?"

Jason shrugged. "I don't know." He paused. "As long as it takes."

"Where will you go?"

"I don't know."

"Well what do you know?" Elizabeth snapped.

Jason looked as if he had been struck, and Elizabeth immediately felt guilty. "I'm sorry, okay? I just-"

"Remember when I proposed to you?"

Elizabeth was taken aback. She was so surprised that he brought it up that she could only stare.

"I told you that I wanted to share a life with you."

She nodded in a daze. "That didn't last long," she reminded him.

"Because the business got in the way."

Elizabeth smiled as she wiped tears away. "It always does."

Jason took one of her hands in his and caressed the back of her hand with his thumb. "That's over now."

Elizabeth looked up at him in surprise. "Are you saying you want to be with me?"

Jason smiled. "That's all I _do_ know."

She shook her head in confusion. "But why now? After all of this time, why now?"

He studied her. "Does it matter?"

She again shook her head. "No, it doesn't."

He let go of her hand. "It'll be a long time coming," he said, hardly above a whisper.

She shrugged it off. "We've been dancing around each other for years, I think I can manage to wait a little longer."

He pursed his lips. "I don't want to ask you to wait for me."

"Then don't ask me, take me with you!" she pleaded.

Jason looked tempted. "You know I can't do that," he reprimanded her. "You have your job, the boys…"

Her hands were shaking, and Jason took them in his. "You have to promise me that if someone else comes along that makes you happy, you won't hold back because of me."

Elizabeth balked. "If you're referring to what happened with Ewen, this is completely different! You just told me that you want a life with me, and now you're saying you don't want me to wait for you? You're sending awfully mixed signals, Jason!"

"I know," Jason said regrettably, "but just because it's what I want doesn't mean you should put your life on hold. It would be selfish of me to ask that of you."

"Not if I want it too," Elizabeth retorted.

"Promise me," Jason said sternly.

"What?" Elizabeth asked incredulously.

"Promise me that if you meet someone else you'll allow yourself to be happy," Jason said, raising his voice. "I don't want the same fate for you that I brought upon myself all these years."

Elizabeth understood his reasons, but she didn't want to back down so easily. "I can't promise anything," she told him with an attitude. "I want _you_."

Jason pushed her hair behind her ear. "Promise me," he whispered desperately. "That's all I ask of you."

Elizabeth recalled asking her son to make a promise to her less than an hour before, only this time the implications were much heavier. She sighed, tears overflowing onto her cheeks. "I promise."

Jason leaned forward and pressed his lips to her forehead. He lingered there for a moment, clenching his eyes shut as he tried to force the fact that he was leaving her out of his mind. When he pulled away, he noted with disdain that her sobbing had intensified.

"So when are you leaving? Tomorrow? Next week?" She asked frantically.

"Now," he managed, almost choking on the single-syllable word.

"Now?" she asked, her voice cracking in her hysteria.

"My affairs are in order. I've spoken with Sam, Spinelli, Michael, Sonny, the Quartermaines and Carly among others."

"Carly is letting you go?" She asked, though she wasn't really listening for his answer.

"It took a lot of convincing, you know Carly. But I convinced her that it was best."

She nodded absently. "You can't tell me where you're going, or how long until I'll see or hear from you again?"

He shook his head. "I'm sorry."

Elizabeth clapped a hand over her mouth as she tried to muffle her cries. Jason cringed as he watched the woman he had loved for so many years go through such pain.

She dropped her hand and looked at him. "Just when we were reconnecting, just when life was beginning to make sense to me again, you decide to say good-bye?"

Jason put his arms around her and drew her into his chest. His black shirt became soaked with her tears in a matter of seconds. After she got her sobs under control, he pulled back.

"I'll come back for you," he told her, "whether to be your best friend or something more is up to you."

"I love you," she told him as if it were a secret just between them.

He stroked her hair. "I've always loved you."

Without another word he made his way to the door. He paused in front of it. "I brought you something, it's in your garage. Don't look at it until I'm gone."

She was puzzled by what he said, but before she could ask questions, Jason opened the door and stepped outside, where it had apparently begun to rain. She had been too devastated to notice.

Elizabeth stood there for a moment, trying to absorb what had just happened. In the next instant, panic overcame her.

"Jason?" she called out hysterically, "Jason!"

She bolted out the front door. Jason turned around just in time to catch her as she flung her arms around him. The rain drenched them both, but they didn't care. Elizabeth crushed her lips against his with passion that she hadn't felt in a long time. The flame between them burned as if they had never spent a day apart, much less several years.

When they finally broke apart, she pulled him close. "Promise me you _will _come back," she shouted in his ear over the roar of the rain.

He nodded against her. "I promise," he swore sincerely.

She let him go, and she watched with a broken heart as the man she loved climbed into his car and took off.

She stood in the rain for another moment before turning towards her garage. It was open, and she walked towards it, not expecting to see what was inside.

Next to her car was a motorcycle. _His _motorcycle.

In a trance, she walked over to it. She ran a hand over the controls, the key that was in the ignition, and the seat. Then, she draped herself over it and cried.

It was only when she remembered the dirty dish in the sink that she picked herself up and tried to carry on living her life.


End file.
